Pete McMartin: Heritage preservation: fixing the fix

Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun Columnist06.20.2014

Arlen Redekop/PNG
Protesters gathered at the Legg Mansion in the West End May 25 to protest the planned demolition of the heritage house. The city of Vancouver is taking action next week to find ways to give its departments greater latitude in dealing with heritage homes to ease the financial burden of preservation on homeowners.

Related

Arnold Shuchat, a realtor, wrote me the other day about heritage preservation in Vancouver. It’s a hot topic these days, given the growing pace of demolitions of older character homes, especially on Vancouver’s west side, and Shuchat was responding to a column earlier this week in which I asked the question, who pays for that preservation?

At the moment, Shuchat is acting as agent for a property in Vancouver that is on the Heritage B list. To be designated as such, a site must represent “a good example of a particular style or type, either individually or collectively” and “may have some documented historical or cultural significance in a neighbourhood.”

The house is turn-of-the-century, three storeys and on a 50 by 125 foot lot. It’s a duplex with tenants. It’s an estate sale.

At the moment, the asking price is $2.2 million. There have been, Shuchat said, numerous offers, which, because of confidentiality concerns, Shuchat said he could not discuss. Presumably, those offers haven’t been to the seller’s liking.

A common thread in the potential buyers’ queries about the property, Shuchat said, concerns the site’s heritage designation. They want to know (a) the ramifications of that designation and (b) will they be allowed to tear it down if they so wish.

The answer to (b) is: yes. Any property in Vancouver can be demolished if a buyer so wishes, even if that property is on a heritage list. The city cannot stop demolition, though it will negotiate to dissuade a buyer from doing so.

But Shuchat believes a heritage designation affects the dynamic of the selling process, nonetheless. And it may, he wrote, adversely affect the selling price.

There is not only the cost of preserving a heritage house to be considered, that is if one chooses to preserve it; there is also the question of the very limited incentives the city can provide to convince an owner to do so.

“Just how much leniency,” Shuchat asks in his email, “is required to encourage an owner of a 50-foot-wide by 125 foot deep to opt for heritage conservation?”

Well, the answer is, more than city hall is offering now. The city can grant a density bonus to the buyer, and allow the new owner to increase the floor space ratio on the property — add a lane house or a basement rental suite, say. But this could mean changing the original home’s footprint, which for most ordinary homeowners would be an onerous cost.

There is also the added, and sometimes very expensive, costs of bringing the property up to 21st century code standards. New insulation, new windows, rewiring — it all costs money.

Finally, the process of heritage preservation is so cumbersome and so fraught with red tape that many buyers are frustrated by it and simply walk away.

“On the surface,” Shuchat wrote, “it might be a neat idea. Practically speaking however, it is not that simple. The various departments at City Hall are still charged with administering their own priorities such as architectural context, relative height, setbacks, relative density, tree preservation, parking requirements etc … and there is no overriding administrative policy of leniency which would cause each of these departments in the ordinary course of their administration to hasten with a sense of urgency and remove these usual barriers so as to assist with a heritage matter.”

The result: The seller takes a hit in price, the buyer, if at all interested in preservation, must face a complicated and expensive process.

“Let’s call a spade a shovel,” Shuchat wrote. “What we have here with this Heritage Policy as it currently works, is a disguised expropriation without compensation of an owner’s property.”

In an example of refreshing bureaucratic candor, Brian Jackson, the city’s director of planning, concurred.

“To be honest,” Jackson said, “I would tend to agree with him, and with council’s instruction, I am sitting down with staff next week — the meeting is already booked — to go over how we can simplify matters and expedite the process.

“Our current process is far too cumbersome, and we’ve got to fix it, and we’re going to fix it fast. We have to make it the easiest process possible.”

The city’s various departments, he said, would be instructed to deal with their various facets in the heritage process as quickly as possible. The city will also begin to exercise greater discretion with the building code so as to lessen the financial burdens of preservation on homeowners — Jackson called it allowing “alternative solutions.” New windows might not have to meet the strict requirements they did before, or new insulation might be waived. The idea of the new direction, Jackson said, is to encourage preservation, but not in so rigid a way that it’s financially punitive.

The planning department will also be looking at what other jurisdictions around North America offer homeowners as incentives, he said. Many cities in the U.S., for example, offer tax holidays, federal tax writeoffs and even grants.

“We have very limited tools for compensation,” Jackson said.

All in all, it was a frank admission, and a welcome one. Heritage preservation is a worthy pursuit but it comes at a cost.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

Pete McMartin: Heritage preservation: fixing the fix

Video

Today's Headline Videos

Best of Postmedia

To steel himself for the year-long journey that began Wednesday, Jonathan Pitre has been going over the hard calculus that underpins his decision to pursue a high-risk, high-reward treatment in Minnesota

When he woke up in tears the morning after he had cried himself to sleep, Rohit Saxena knew what he had to do. Leaving his wife, Lesley, asleep in bed, Rohit went downstairs, opened his laptop and began to write. “They say your kids are your hearts outside your body,” he wrote. “I’ll always be […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.